R.I.P. hokejisti Ð›Ð¾ÐºÐ¾Ð¼Ð¾Ñ‚Ð¸Ð² Ð¯Ñ€Ð¾ÑÐ»Ð°ÌÐ²Ð»ÑŒ

Eariler today, a plane containing the roster of the KHL hockey club, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, caught fire and crashed shortly after take-off, merely 4 kilometers from Tunosjno-airport. Preliminary reports say that 43 of the 45 passengers on board had been killed, and that the only surviving player was in critical condition. It was later announced that Alexander Galimov is only player on-board to survive the crash.

Among the deceased are Igor Korolev, Alexander Karpovtsev,Â Karlis Skrastins, Brad McCrimmon, Ruslan SaleiÂ and a former NHL star Pavol Demitra who scored 304 goals and 768 points in 847 NHL games. I loved watching him play and am extremely saddened by his passing. I would like to think we’re more than a Leafs blog, so we should all express our sencere thoughts and prayers regarding this tragedy that shook the entire hockey world. In times like these, there is no NHL vs. the KHL rivalry, only togetherness and unity.

Here is a part of the statement from IIHF President Rene Fasel, it really tells the whole story – “This is the darkest day in the history of our sport, this is not only a Russian tragedy, the Lokomotiv roster included players and coaches from ten nations.”

Hi there, I'm Mislav, a hockey writer from Croatia. My weird hockey journey includes the Maple Leafs Hot Stove, covering the Kontinental Hockey League as a Managing Editor at KHL.hr and doing a piece for the Hockey News that one time. This is me on hockey and stuff in between. Enjoy your stay!